Anurag Kashyap with his cast and crew recently celebrated the box office success of Gangs of Wasseypur. Since its release on 22nd June, the film has earned Rs 23 crore from India alone. With a total budget of around Rs 18.4 crore and the second part still to come, you would definitely call that a winning proposition.
Kashyap has announced the release of part 2 on 8th August and its trailer is just as intriguing and exciting. First previewed at the recent 65th Cannes International Film Festival and shown back to back with part 1, in part 2 the focus shifts to Manoj Bajpai’s son Faisal Khan played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui. His character takes over his father’s crime empire in Wasseypur.
The first part covered the story of Sardar Khan and Ramadir Singh, based on the real life characters Shafi Khan and Surya Dev Singh, who are both deceased. The second is about real life character Faheem Khan who is still alive and currently imprisoned.
In his recent interviews with Bollyspice, Kashyap spoke of the stronger influence of Bollywood as a central theme and character in part 2. Alongside which, audiences will witness a murkier Wasseypur, complete with a new younger generation. The film will also see the rise of Manoj Bajpai’s fiery wife from the first part (Richa Chadda), as an older and powerful matriarch.
Interestingly the first part was banned in certain Middle Eastern countries, claiming offensiveness to Muslims. The second part is being released during Ramadan (the month of fasting for Muslims), so we will see just how well the film fares. Especially given Bollywood’s reluctance to release films during this period due to a large segment of the audiences staying away and as the real life characters and residents of Wasseypur are themselves Muslim.
If you have not caught it yet, make sure you catch the trailer here:
